The First World War, Khilafat and Non-Cooperation
War brings problems
The First World War (1914–18) meant more defence spending, so taxes and customs duties went up and income tax began. Prices nearly doubled between 1913 and 1918. Villagers were forced into the army. In 1918–21 crops failed and an influenza epidemic killed 12 to 13 million people.
The idea of satyagraha
Gandhiji came back from South Africa in January 1915. Satyagraha means insisting on truth. If your cause is true, you do not need violence to win; you appeal to the conscience of the oppressor.
- Champaran, Bihar (1917): helped peasants against the harsh indigo plantation system.
- Kheda, Gujarat (1917): helped farmers who could not pay revenue after crop failure and plague.
- Ahmedabad (1918): helped cotton mill workers.
Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh
The Rowlatt Act (1919) let the government jail political prisoners for two years without trial. Gandhiji called a hartal on 6 April 1919. On 13 April 1919, at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, General Dyer blocked the exits and his soldiers fired on a peaceful crowd, killing hundreds. Anger spread across India.
Khilafat
After the war the Ottoman emperor of Turkey, the Khalifa (spiritual head of Muslims), faced a harsh treaty. Muslims formed a Khilafat Committee in Bombay in March 1919 (Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali). Gandhiji saw a chance to bring Hindus and Muslims together.
Why non-cooperation?
In his book Hind Swaraj (1909), Gandhiji wrote that British rule survived only because Indians cooperated. If they stopped, it would collapse. At the Nagpur session (December 1920) Congress adopted the Non-Cooperation programme: give back titles, boycott civil services, army, police, courts, councils, schools and foreign goods.
Different strands of the movement
- Towns: students left government schools, lawyers left courts, foreign cloth was burnt. Council elections were boycotted except in Madras. But khadi was costlier than mill cloth, and there were few Indian schools, so it slowed.
- Peasants of Awadh: led by Baba Ramchandra against talukdars and landlords who took high rents and begar (forced work). Oudh Kisan Sabha was set up in October 1920.
- Tribals of the Gudem Hills (Andhra): led by Alluri Sitarama Raju against forest laws; they used guerrilla war, not non-violence. Raju was killed in 1924.
- Plantation workers of Assam: under the Inland Emigration Act (1859) they could not leave the tea gardens. They left anyway, believing Gandhi Raj was coming.
In February 1922, at Chauri Chaura (Gorakhpur), a peaceful march turned violent and a police station was burnt. Gandhiji withdrew the movement.
Towards Civil Disobedience
Some leaders (C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru) formed the Swaraj Party to enter councils. Young leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose wanted full independence. The world depression after 1926 made farm prices fall.
The Simon Commission reached India in 1928 with no Indian member. People greeted it with "Go back, Simon". In December 1929, at the Lahore session under Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress demanded Purna Swaraj (complete independence). 26 January 1930 was celebrated as Independence Day.
The Salt March
On 31 January 1930 Gandhiji sent 11 demands to Viceroy Irwin. The biggest: abolish the salt tax, because salt is used by rich and poor alike. When Irwin did not reply, Gandhiji began the Salt March on 12 March 1930 with 78 volunteers, walking over 240 miles (about 385 km) from Sabarmati to Dandi in 24 days. On 6 April 1930 he made salt from sea water.
Civil Disobedience meant not only refusing to cooperate but breaking colonial laws: making salt, boycotting foreign cloth, refusing taxes, breaking forest laws. The government arrested leaders; Abdul Ghaffar Khan's arrest led to protests in Peshawar. In March 1931 Gandhiji signed the Gandhi-Irwin Pact and went to the Second Round Table Conference in London, but returned disappointed. The movement restarted and was finally called off in 1934.
How participants saw the movement
- Rich peasants (Patidars of Gujarat, Jats of UP): hit by falling prices, wanted lower revenue. Disappointed when the movement stopped in 1931.
- Poor peasants: wanted rents cut; Congress did not support no-rent campaigns fully.
- Business classes: wanted protection from foreign goods; formed the Indian Industrial and Commercial Congress (1920) and FICCI (1927), led by Purshottamdas Thakurdas and G.D. Birla. They feared spreading unrest later.
- Industrial workers: some, like at Nagpur, joined; Congress kept them at a distance to avoid upsetting industrialists.
- Women: joined marches, made salt, picketed shops; mostly from high-caste families in cities and rich peasant families in villages.
The limits
Dalits ("untouchables", whom Gandhiji called Harijans) wanted separate electorates. Dr B.R. Ambedkar formed the Depressed Classes Association in 1930. Gandhiji fasted against separate electorates; the Poona Pact (September 1932) gave Dalits reserved seats instead. Many Muslims felt distant after the Khilafat movement faded and communal clashes grew; talks over seats with Muhammad Ali Jinnah failed in 1928.
The sense of collective belonging
A nation grows when people feel they share one identity. In India this came from struggle and from culture:
- Bharat Mata: Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Vande Mataram in the 1870s; it later appeared in his novel Anandamath. Abanindranath Tagore painted Bharat Mata as a calm, spiritual mother.
- Folklore: Rabindranath Tagore collected folk songs and ballads; Natesa Sastri published a large collection of Tamil folk tales.
- Flags and icons: in the Swadeshi movement in Bengal, a tricolour (red, green, yellow) with 8 lotuses and a crescent. In 1921 Gandhiji designed the Swaraj flag: red, green and white with a spinning wheel in the middle.
- History re-told: writers praised India's ancient achievements in art, science and law, and asked people to be proud and to fight British rule.
But when the past was shown mostly through Hindu images, people of other communities sometimes felt left out. That is a lesson for any nation.
Try it yourself
Make a "salt march" at home: dissolve one spoon of salt in a cup of water, put it in a plate in the sun for 1–2 days, and watch salt crystals come back. That is how Gandhiji made salt at Dandi. Then in the 3D, predict: on which day of the march were the marchers halfway? Check with the counter (about day 12).
Exam tips
Most asked: why Gandhiji chose salt, how different groups saw Civil Disobedience, why Non-Cooperation was withdrawn, Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh, Poona Pact, and how Bharat Mata and folklore built nationalism. Keep years handy: 1917, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932.
Key formulas and definitions
- Satyagraha = truth + non-violence + appeal to conscience
- Non-Cooperation (1920–22) = stop cooperating (boycott)
- Civil Disobedience (1930–34) = stop cooperating + break colonial laws
- Salt March: 12 March → 6 April 1930, Sabarmati → Dandi, 78 volunteers, ~385 km
- Poona Pact 1932 = reserved seats for Dalits (not separate electorates)
Worked examples
1. Why did Gandhiji choose salt to start Civil Disobedience?
Salt is needed by every person, rich or poor, so a tax on it hurts everyone. Breaking the salt law was simple, peaceful and could be done anywhere near the sea or by boiling salty water. It united all Indians against an unfair British law.
2. Why was the Non-Cooperation Movement withdrawn?
In February 1922 at Chauri Chaura, a peaceful crowd clashed with police and burnt a police station. Gandhiji felt the movement was turning violent and people needed more training in satyagraha, so he called it off.
3. How was Civil Disobedience different from Non-Cooperation?
Non-Cooperation asked people only to stop cooperating: boycott schools, courts, goods. Civil Disobedience asked people also to break colonial laws: make salt, refuse taxes, break forest laws.
4. Why did rich peasants lose interest in 1931?
They joined because falling prices made revenue hard to pay. When the movement was called off in 1931 without revenue being lowered, they were disappointed, and many did not join when it restarted in 1932.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up years: Non-Cooperation began 1920 (Nagpur, December 1920); Civil Disobedience began 1930.
- Saying Purna Swaraj was declared in Madras. It was the Lahore session, December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Thinking all groups wanted the same swaraj. Each group had its own idea: lower rents, freedom to trade, leaving tea gardens.
- Calling the Poona Pact a separate electorate. It gave reserved seats in general electorates.